Awards

In recognition UCSB’s efforts and focus on sustainability initiatives, the campus has received several awards over the years. Below is a listing by year of UCSB’s impressive achievements.

2015/2016 Academic Year

UCSB won a 2016 Best Practice Award in the annual Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Awards contest presented at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) for the Student Affairs and Administrative Services Building Advanced Lighting and Controls Project.

Named a Gold Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists

Received National Recognition for leading the way in water conservation by the Earth Day Network

UCSB Extension’s Green Building Program earned the coveted U.S. Green Building Council’s education award

UCSB received one of the highest scores (99) in the Princeton Review’s Green Rating and was named to the 2014 “Green Rating Honor Roll.” The Company tallied the rating for 832 institutions, based on its institutional surveys of colleges in 2012-13 concerning their environmentally related practices, policies, and academic offerings.

In August 2014, UCSB was rated No. 24 on Sierra magazine’s list of “Coolest Schools.” The Sierra Club’s official publication recognizes 162 colleges and universities that are creating solutions to climate problems and are making huge strides to operate sustainably.

UCSB received a Gold rating under STARS (Sustainability Tracking and Assessment Rating System), a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to use to measure their sustainability performance and which is maintained by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Ranked number 53 on The Daily Meal’s list of the 75 Best Colleges for Food in America

UCSB placed 2nd in the Alliance to Save Energy’s annual Campus Conservation National energy savings competition. UCSB saved over 5,700 kWh in this competition against 23 other Southern California schools.

UCSB was ranked 4th on the list of the top 25 healthiest colleges in the nation by Greatest, an online health and fitness media start-up

2012/2013 Academic Year

Awards:

1.UC Santa Barbara won the 2013 Best Practice Award in the category of Water Efficiency and Site Water Quality for its innovative Water Action Plan. The Water Action Plan evaluates water use and provides strategies for reducing water consumption. It provides holistic insights and solutions for various types of water: potable, non-potable, reclaimed, wastewater, stormwater, and gray water. UCSB staff collaborated with students from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management to produce the plan, which doubled as the students’ master’s thesis. They collected and analyzed water data to help shape recommendations, giving them the opportunity to implement their academic experiences in the field. The Water Action Plan also incorporates understanding of watersheds into the academic curriculum and educational outreach campaigns to the campus community.

2. Received an award from the California Central Coast chapter of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the category of Resource Efficiency for construction waste minimization and a 90% waste diversion rate in the creation of the North Campus Faculty Housing Phase I.

3. The University of California’s Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN) was awarded the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) in the field of Green Chemistry. The UC CEIN earned the award for their nanotechnology environmental health and safety efforts. Since its inception in 2008, the UC CEIN has become a world-class research facility focused on the responsible use and safe implementation of nanotechnology in the environment. UC CEIN is widely respected globally for implementation of novel approaches to assess nanomaterial properties that determine hazard, environmental exposure, and impact on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. These efforts have helped create a paradigm shift for investigating nanomaterial hazard and risk at a scale commensurate with the rate of new nanomaterial development.

4. UC Santa Barbara received two awards during the Green Business Program Luncheon in February 2013 hosted by Santa Barbara County’s Green Business Program. The Southern California Gas Company awarded UCSB with the Energy Smart Award for UCSB’s commitment to energy efficiency as well as a Certificate of Participation for UCSB’s participation in its energy efficiency programs. In 2011, UCSB’s participation in Southern California Gas Company’s energy efficiency programs saved an estimated 55,326 therms of gas and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 647,314 pounds.

8. Plastics Pollution Coalition (coalition of 19 organizations) received a best practice award from the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference

9. UC Wide Best Practice Award in Water Efficiency and Site Water Quality was provided to UCSB’s San Nicolas wetland and library mall.

Certifications:

1. Received two LEED-EBOM Gold certifications: San Clemente Villages and Ellison Hall, both under the Portfolio Program, for a total of 12 LEED-EB buildings on campus, more than any college or university in the nation.

2. Published a paper in collaboration with The Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and UC Davis on fume hood sash closure stickers: “Fume Hood Sash Stickers Increase Laboratory Safety and Efficiency at Minimal Cost: Success at two University of California Campuses” http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/sash_stickers_cs.pdf